Fourth round proves again to be stumbling block for Warriors

ELON UNIVERSITY — Facing the unbeaten, top-seeded defending state 3-A champion on its own field, the Hunt High varsity girls soccer team seemed poised to break past the fourth round of the NCHSAA 3-A playoffs Thursday night at Western Alamance.

An early goal for the 3-A Quad County Conference-champion Warriors, seeded No. 4 in the 3-A East bracket, wouldn’t stand, however. The host Warriors, winners of the 3-A Central Conference, scored just before halftime and again with about 12 minutes to go, then weathered a hail of Hunt shots on goal down the stretch to escape 2-1.

Western Alamance (22-0-2) advances to meet No. 2 Jacksonville (17-1-4), a 2-0 victor over J.H. Rose on Thursday, in a rematch of last year’s 3-A East final on Tuesday in Elon University. The Hunt Warriors, with their third straight exit in the fourth round, finish up 18-5-1 as their 11-game winning streak ended.

“I honestly believe that in all three matches, if we just get a little bit of opportunity to finish some of our chances, we were the better team in all three matches and that’s the part that hurt,” said Hunt head coach Richard Frazier. “Sometimes you go out there and a team is better than you and beats you, but I felt like we competed each year and had our opportunity to advance. We will go back to the drawing board next year and see if we can put together another team that can compete at a high level. I’m very proud of what the program has become at Hunt. And we just strive to do and play the right way. And it’s just it’s it’s tough to end the season like that three years in a row. And I think it’s just something that we’ll keep in the back of our minds and have a little chip on our shoulder to when we can get past that point.”

The game was delayed due to rain and the wet grass would play a factor later in the match. However, Hunt took control in the 15th minute when junior Mariah Polk sent a cross to senior Kate Conoley, who buried it in the net for a 1-0 lead.

The host Warriors finally answered with less than 10 minutes to play before halftime when a shot from outside the 18-yard line skipped once on the wet field, Frazier said, and to the corner of the goal, out of reach of freshman keeper Callie Roundtree for the equalizer.

Western Alamance took the lead on a “miscommunication” by the Hunt defense, Frazier said, with about 12 minutes to go.

Hunt, which outshot Western Alamance 13-8, had numerous chances to tie or take the lead before and after the second WA goal. One of the best came on a free kick by Bunn with under two minutes to go that hit the crossbar. The deflection ended up sitting in front of a waiting goal but the Hunt attempt was wide.

“It was heartbreaking because if we finished two or three of the opportunities, we probably win by a couple of goals, to be honest,” Frazier said.

The Hunt coach saluted Western Alamance, which was frustrated by 15 fouls (to five called on Hunt) and four yellow cards.

“They play very physical,” he said. “A lot of balls in the air on the big field and 50/50 balls and yeah, we we had them on the ropes. We just could not finish. Obviously they haven’t lost this year — and nothing against them — they didn’t play dirty. They just played hard and and went through some fouls and the referee did a good job of keeping the game the match pretty clean.”

While Hunt started four freshmen this year and will have a solid nucleus returning to shoot for an eighth conference championship, outright or shared, under Frazier next spring, the Warriors will certainly miss their four seniors — starters Bunn, Conoley and center back Katie Davis, along with Gaby Ruelas, who played everywhere, even goal, in her four years.

Bunn, a likely two-time all-state pick when North Carolina Soccer Coaches Association awards come out later this month, Davis and Conoley were senior co-captains.

“They were our three captains and they led by example,” Frazier said. “They have been in the program for four years and they have put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into our trainings and into our matches. They should be very proud of the record they have and the soccer they’ve played over their four years.

“Cappa leads by example out there. … I think Kate Conoley this year, the last half of the season, was our best player. She really turned it on and I really believe that Meredith (College) is getting a really, really good player there and she has an opportunity to probably be the best player on their team. She really had a good season for us this year. And I mean, Katie Davis went from outside back her first two years to center back and, and never missed a beat there. So, you just can’t say enough about their leadership and their dedication to the Hunt program.

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